Originally Posted by
matthew64832
DL won't rebook you on another carrier for this (in advance).
It sounds like there is a second flight to Australia that night on a DL partner with DL codeshare, so they are likely to rebook you on that if you miss your connection. However, I'd be proactive on your day of travel by calling DL if you see any delays in your first flight to try to get rebooked or protected on the later flight as soon as possible.
I agree. DL telephone reservations can do this, and I think more dependably than either the gate agent or a manned rebooking desk in the T-5 terminal. If OP is sitting on the arrival tarmac, and sees the SYD flight pull away, he should whip out his smart phone and check his Delta app to see if he's be proactively rebooked. If not, he can telephone Delta reservations right from the seat of his arriving plane.
The Delta plane to Sydney is going to be parked at the end of the T-5 pier. Not likely to be a lot of 777's there other than the SYD one.
If the OP has the right field of view on his arriving plane, see can see a message board above the outside wall of the departing gate with "SYD" and a count-down timer to the scheduled departure.
If the OP is rebooked onto the VA flight, he'll probably have to walk (or take the "A" Connections bus) to VA's check-in counter, which is in terminal 3 just past Bradley (the international terminal at the bottom of the big "U", which is how they are laid out). VA departs from Bradley, which is weird because their departure terminal is different than their check-in terminal.
(Even if Delta rebooks, I doubt that they can issue a VA boarding pass that can be scanned for boarding at Bradley terminal.)